Cliffnotes, June 24, 2000
by Chance
Summary: In Cliffnotes


Title: Cliffnotes, June 24, 2000  
Author: Chance  
E-mail: chance1562@aol.com  
Feedback: Yes please   
Category: Family  
Spoilers: none  
Season/sequel/series: Cliffnotes  
Rating: G  
Content warnings: none  
Summary: In Cliffnotes  
Archive: The Wanderings, ELF Command, Avant Guard, WWOMB, anyone else please ask   
Disclaimer: I don't own them. How sick am I to have to keep writing that?   
Author's notes: Thank you to Shannon for the beta  Thank you to Holly (as in Murph ) for the idea developing. I lvoe late night IM, don't you?   
For AT, I miss you.  
  
****  
  
Oh man, of all the times for Carol to be sick, it _had_ to be today. He had a very important meeting with some of the top brass _and_ some visiting dignitaries. The brass wanted their "golden boy" there to impress their visitors, and since Nathan was one of their top people -- both officially and unofficially -- he was required to attend. Robert was away for the weekend on a Scout trip in the deep woods with his senior troop so that left Nathan with...  
  
"Daddy, too hot," Lucas said as Nathan walked swiftly toward Headquarters, Lucas settled on his hip. The little boy tugged at the collar of his T-shirt, pulling it away and shaking it to illustrate just how hot he was.  
  
"I know you are Lucas. We'll be inside really soon where it's nice and cool, okay?"  
  
Lucas nodded and stopped tugging on his T-shirt; instead, he grabbed onto Nathan uniform collar and held on tight, wrinkling the fabric. There wasn't much Nathan could do about that, and the brass were just going to have to deal with it -- some of them had children, they _should_ understand.  
  
Having already called ahead, Nathan strode quickly over to the front desk and smiled at the female officer on duty.  
  
"Hello Mary," he said, dropping protocol. He and Mary Westcott had been friends for years and when it was just the two of them they didn't feel the need to follow the somewhat tedious military protocol.   
  
"Hey Nathan, and hello to you too, Lucas," she answered, smiling at them both.   
  
Lucas ducked his head down and hid his face in his father's shoulder, inexplicably shy all of the sudden.  
  
Nathan chuckled. "Thanks Mary. I really appreciate this; you're saving my life," he said.  
  
She smiled at him. "No problem, Nathan, Lucas and I will have a lot of fun while you're at the meeting." She reached behind her and grabbed a packet sitting on the desk. Holding it up and waving it to grab Lucas' attention she explained, "I though Lucas and I could get some coloring in; maybe a card for your mommy so she can feel better?"  
  
Lucas peeked at her from the corner of one eye, gradually bringing his head around until he was looking at her, a smile gracing his young face.   
  
"Would you like that Lucas? Make a get-well card for Mom?" Nathan asked, jiggling Lucas in his arms until the toddler laughed.  
  
Lucas nodded and giggled some more, reaching for the crayons Mary still held in her hands. Taking the opportunity, Nathan handed the eighteen-month-old over to her and reached down for the file she had waiting for him. Lucas went willingly enough and was soon settled comfortably in a chair, boosted up by a couple phone books to make him the appropriate height.  
  
Thanking Mary again and leaning over to kiss Lucas on the head, Nathan strode off, confident that Lucas was in capable hands and hoping that the meeting would be over soon so that they could get out of there.  
  
****  
  
Twenty minutes later, Lucas looked up from his completed picture, wanting to show his daddy what he'd done. Mary sat across from him, suddenly swamped with calls and a few visitors needing to know where certain offices were. It was a literal madhouse and Lucas couldn't see anyone who looked even remotely like his father in all the chaos. Making a decision, he dropped down from the chair and wandered off down the large hallway, peeking into rooms and around corners, in search of his father.  
  
The little boy continued on his search, now quite a distance from the front desk and Mary and still no close to finding where his father had gone. Along the way he started to drop his clothes -- a piece at a time -- on the floor. Much to his parents' embarrassment, he had reached the "stripping" stage, taking his clothes off and giggling when he was chased around the house while they tried to get his clothes back on him. Like most parents, they'd decided not to make a big deal out of it and just weather it, hoping Lucas would outgrow it soon. Hadn't happened yet and now Lucas was starting to strip when they were out in public. Nathan had warned Mary of the possibility when she'd agreed to watch Lucas and the woman had laughed over the phone. She had her own children and _knew_ what Nathan and Carol were going through.  
  
Within minutes, Lucas was completely nude, waddling down the hall on his short toddler legs and still looking for his father.  
  
****  
  
"What?!" Nathan exclaimed into the phone, causing the rest of the people in the meeting to stare. "I'll be right there, just keep looking for him." Nathan hung up the phone and jumped to his feet, heading for the door. "I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse me," he said hurriedly, barely pausing long enough to look at the room. "My son is missing and I _need_ to go look for him." Without waiting for a reply Nathan bolted for through the door, missing Lucas by a few feet, as the toddler entered the empty room across the hall.  
  
"Please be all right Lucas," Nathan said under his breath as he ran for the front desk. "Please just be in the building somewhere, not outside, please."  
  
****  
  
Lucas scrunched up his face when he found yet another empty room. For a building that was supposed to have so many people, it sure was empty. Hearing voices coming from across the hall, the little boy left the room he was in and headed for the source; maybe they would know where his daddy was.  
  
He dropped to all fours and crawled over -- legs tired from having to walk all over -- and peeked through the partially open door. A large group of men and women sat around a big table in the middle of the room, talking about some kind of water agreement or something. Lucas didn't see his father among them and exhaled loudly in frustration. Deciding that, even if his Daddy wasn't in there, it might be a good idea to ask these people if they knew where he was. Lucas was already tired and starting to feel frustrated from his so far fruitless search.  
  
He pushed open the door gently and walked over to the closest adult -- a man wearing a business suit and sitting in between two very large men. Lucas reached up and tugged on the man's arm, causing him to let out a strangled yelp and turn quickly to see what the tugging was. The two men next to him jumped up and whirled around, reaching under their coats before they saw who it was.  
  
"Hi," Lucas said, blue eyes wide at the quick motion of the men. "Daddy, here?"   
  
The man he had touched let out a laugh when his eyes saw Lucas, a small boy in his birthday suit looking up at him with serious blue eyes and shaggy blond hair.  
  
"What did you say?" he asked.  
  
Lucas rolled his eyes, _very_ tired by now. "Daddy, here?"  
  
"Daddy?" he trailed off, eyes lighting up when realization struck. "Is your daddy Lieutenant Commander Bridger?"  
  
Lucas smiled, his whole face brightening. "Uh huh, where Daddy?"   
  
Gentle laughter swept through the room as everyone watched the scene. Most had never seen the leader of the United Free Powers Market act human, much less engage a little boy in conversation -- and what a conversation. Bridger was definitely going to be mortified when he found this out.  
  
"Logan," a woman across the table addressed here aide, "call the front desk and have them inform Commander Bridger that his son is here...and that he may want to pick up some clothes for him."   
  
The aide smiled and turned away to make the call. The rest of the room continued to take in the scene, enjoying the much needed break in the proceedings. President Richards - the aforementioned leader of the UFPM - picked Lucas up and settled him on his lap so that the little boy was facing the room.  
  
Lucas waved at Admiral Parker sitting across the table from him. Parker was his daddy's commanding officer, so he had met the older man a few times. The admiral waved back and laughed softly; he was going to have a lot of fun with Bridger about _this_ one.  
  
"Hello Lucas. How are you?" Parker asked.  
  
"Fine, need Daddy. How you?" Lucas answered in his toddler-speak. He hadn't quite mastered the use of complete sentences yet, but he knew enough to be able to hold a simple conversation.  
  
Parker laughed again. "Just fine lad; we're getting you father here right now so you don't need to worry."  
  
Lucas beamed at the Admiral and before President Richards could do anything -- not that he would have - Lucas had launched himself out of the man's lap and crawled across the table -- butt wiggling in the air -- and had given the admiral a hug.  
  
Parker sat there stunned for a moment before returning the hug and joining in on the laughter cascading throughout the room. Oh yes, he was going to have _such_ fun about this with Bridger.  
  
****  
  
"Nathan!" Mary called out from her position by the desk, holding up the phone so Nathan could see it. He was busy getting the MPs together to search for Lucas. "Its Logan, Commander Jents' aide, they found Lucas. He's uh...at the meeting. They said you should bring him some clothes..."  
  
Nathan groaned and closed his eyes, doing his best to ignore the snickers coming from near him. Most of him was elated that Lucas had found, but if Lucas needed clothes and Logan was calling from the meeting...  
  
Nathan took off running down the hall, deciding to take the quick route back to save time. On his way to the meeting room, he came across a trail of small clothes and stopped briefly to pick them up before continuing on in his headlong rush; grumbling all the way under his breath. Carol was just going to _love_ this story. He wondered if he should have the EMTs on standby in case she broke something from laughing so hard.  
  
As he got closer to the meeting room, the harried father heard loud laughter and the unmistakable high pitch of his youngest son's giggle. At least Lucas was all right, he was _very_ thankful for that. Now, if he could just keep from killing him in the next few minutes, everything would be okay.  
  
Nathan burst through the doors and stopped in his tracks. There Lucas sat -- extremely naked -- in his _commanding_ officer's lap. Oh Lord, Parker would never let him forget this.  
  
"Daddy!" Lucas burst out and wiggled down from his perch in the admiral's lap. He quickly ran around the table and flung himself into his relieved father's arms.   
  
Nathan held him tightly, just soaking in the fact that Lucas was okay and hadn't been hurt during his little adventure. The older man could deal with the embarrassment as long as he knew Lucas was all right.  
  
"Lucas, I was very worried about you, so was Mar- Lieutenant Westcott. Why did you run away?" Nathan gently scolded.  
  
Lucas hugged his father tightly, just happy to see him. "Wanted to see you; couldn't find you," he answered, pouting at Nathan. He didn't like it when his daddy had to go away.  
  
Nathan sighed and had to bite back a grin at the pout. "Okay, but we need to talk about this at home. Right now, why don't we put some clothes on you, okay?"  
  
Lucas nodded and Nathan made his way to his seat, keeping his head down and not meeting anyone's eyes. He knew his face must be beet red with embarrassment and he wanted to try and settle it before he looked up.   
  
Sitting down, he began to dress his son, having a hard time because Lucas kept trying to take off what he had put on and making the process last longer then necessary. The laughter coming from the other people kept egging the child on and Nathan eventually gave up and joined in the laughter. Like he'd realized before, a lot of the people in the room had children of their own - they understood.   
  
Lucas grinned cheekily up at his father and Nathan returned the grin, ruffling the boy's hair. At least he had succeeded in reattaching the diaper, that was the most important thing; the rest of the clothes could wait.  
  
"You have a delightful son Commander Bridger," one of the dignitaries said.  
  
Nathan nodded his head respectfully. "Thank you; he does keep us busy though."   
  
This brought on another wave of laughter and Lucas curled closer to his father; happy now that he had found him.  
  
"Yes, Bridger, I'm sure the rest of the unit will enjoy hearing _all_ about him," Parker added, a glint in his eye.  
  
Nathan fought the urge to roll his eyes. Only _he_ would get a commanding officer with a sense of humor even more twisted then his own.  
  
"Daddy," Lucas said looking up at his father, "go home now?"  
  
"Not yet Lucas; we still have some of the meeting to get through," Nathan answered, wishing for the opposite. He wanted nothing more then to go home and crawl into bed next to Carol and hide for the next week.  
  
"Actually, I think we're done here for the day," President Richards said, understanding what was going through Nathan's mind. "We can reconvene tomorrow at oh-nine-hundred. Is that to everyone's approval?"   
  
The rest of the room nodded and began to make preparations to depart for the day. Nathan smiled his gratitude at the president and hurried to make his way out of the door before he could be stopped by Parker or anyone else wanting to "chat." He knew one thing though; he and Carol were hiring a baby sitter for tomorrow's meeting if his wife still wasn't feeling well. It would be a while before Nathan would even consider bringing Lucas with him to headquarters unless the toddler was in his possession at _all_ times.  



End file.
